Meet the executive who led one of the most publicized acquisitions in American retail history and transformed a heritage brand to profitability in less than two years.
Join the Gromek Institute for Fashion Business for a fireside chat with Ken Ohashi, CEO of Brooks Brothers. A leader whose 25-year career spans fashion, consumer products, retail, and business development. Ohashi oversaw a $4 billion portfolio and helped form SPARC Group, a joint venture with Simon Property Group generating $4.7 billion in annual global retail sales, while serving as President of International and Global Retail at Authentic Brands Group.
His path to the CEO role was anything but conventional. Starting as a Certified Public Accountant at Arthur Andersen LLP, he later joined Aéropostale, helping transition the company from privately held to publicly traded before rising to Senior Vice President of International and Global Licensing.
This conversation takes us through the turnaround, but it is also about the quiet work behind every career that lasts: learning how to tell your story so people can actually see you. Ohashi will share the lessons that shaped him as a first-generation leader, the instincts he built by saying yes before he felt ready, and the practical moves that turn ambition into momentum. At the center is storytelling as a business skill. Ohashi will share how he has coached emerging talent to reframe lived experience into leadership language, turning what can feel like "just a job" into proof of resilience, judgment, and value.Â
Ohashi has been recognized as No. 1 on the LGBTQ+ Executive Role Model list presented by Outstanding, named to Gold House's A100 List, and included among 50 Outstanding Asian Americans in Business. Under his leadership, Brooks Brothers has partnered with Braven and StartOut, championing first-generation and underrepresented students and supporting LGBTQ+ founders.
Moderated by José P. Chan, Senior Global Retail Executive, Entrepreneur, MIT Sloan Fellow, and PT Assistant Professor at Parsons School of Design. Chan has spent 25+ years at the intersection of retail, technology, and innovation, holding senior roles at LVMH and Richemont. He brings the combination of boardroom experience and academic depth to every conversation he leads.
Expect a candid conversation about leading through uncertainty, brand building, turnaround strategy, career pivots, practical career advice, and the power of storytelling from one of the industry's most compelling leaders. Come ready with questions.
Ken Ohashi is brand chief executive officer of Brooks Brothers. Ohashi is a highly regarded industry executive with more than 25 years of experience in fashion, consumer products, retail, and business development. He led Brooks Brothers’ highly publicized acquisition and transformed and repositioned the company to profitability in less than two years.
José P. Chan is a senior global retail executive, entrepreneur, and PT Assistant Professor at Parsons School of Design. He has been on the Parsons faculty for 20 years. He helped create the MPS curriculum at its inception and has written many courses, including Tech &; Innovation,
Retailing and Merchandising. He currently teaches in the MPS Fashion Management program.
Committed to amplifying diverse voices, The New School offers more than a thousand public programs and events each year, providing fresh perspectives and unique learning opportunities. These lectures, exhibitions, concerts, and performances feature prominent and emerging artists, activists, and thought leaders. Be sure to visit our Events Calendar to see the full roster.
Â
To receive updates about public programs and events at The New School, subscribe to our mailing list. Visit our Livestream and YouTube channels to watch select events live and recorded.
Ken Ohashi is brand chief executive officer of Brooks Brothers and Eddie Bauer.
Ohashi is a highly regarded industry executive with more than 25 years of experience in fashion, consumer products, retail, and business development. He led Brooks Brothers’ highly publicized acquisition and transformed and repositioned the company to profitability in less than two years.
Prior to joining Brooks Brothers, Ohashi was President of International and Global Retail for Authentic Brands Group (ABG), leading the brand management, business development, and marketing of ABG’s $4 billion portfolio of brands outside the U.S. Additionally, Ohashi oversaw the formation of SPARC Group, a joint venture between ABG and Simon Property
Group that supports 4,000-plus retail doors and shop-in-shops, a leading e-commerce platform and $4.7 billion in global retail sales annually.
Ohashi previously served as Senior Vice President of International and Global Licensing for Aéropostale, where he oversaw the brand’s business development, merchandising, planning, corporate and store operations. Prior to his role as SVP, Ohashi served as Aéropostale’s Vice President of Investor and Media Relations. He first joined Aéropostale in 2002 to transition the company from privately held to publicly traded.
Before joining Aéropostale, Ohashi, who qualified as a Certified Public Accountant, spent four years in Arthur Andersen LLP’s Business Assurance and Advisory Group, where he specialized in audit and consulting to retail, fashion, advertising, and pharmaceutical companies. Ohashi’s work has been recognized by some of the nation’s most prestigious institutions. In 2010, Ohashi was ranked first in Institutional Investors (II) Magazine’s annual Wall Street survey in the Best Investor Relations Officer category, and was named to the publication’s 2010, 2011 and 2012 All-American Executive teams. In 2011, Ohashi was named Best IRO in mid-cap 400 by Bloomberg and Investor Relations Magazine. In 2015, Ohashi was included as one of 50 Outstanding Asian Americans in business by the Asian American
Business Development Center. In 2022, Ohashi was listed No. 1 in the LGBTQ+ Executive Role
Model list presented by Outstanding and supported by Yahoo Finance U.K. Ohashi was also named to Gold House’s A100 List, the annual award for the 100 Asian Pacific leaders who most impacted culture and society. An advocate for equity and the right to education, Ohashi formed a partnership between Brooks Brothers and Braven, an organization that helps first-generation and underrepresented students gain college readiness skills and land a solid first job. Brooks Brothers participates in study groups, mentoring, and funding new clothing for students. Brooks Brothers also supports StartOut, an organization that ensures that LGBTQ+ founders gain the resources, expert support, and engagement to accelerate their ideas.
José P. Chan is a senior global retail executive, entrepreneur, and PT Assistant Professor at
Parsons School of Design. He has been on the Parsons faculty for 20 years. He helped create
the MPS curriculum at its inception and has written many courses, including Tech & Innovation, Retailing and Merchandising. He currently teaches in the MPS Fashion Management program.
Concurrently, he has worked in the retail and apparel sector over 20+ years with LVMH,
Richemont and other international groups. He is a Founding Member and Chief Operating
Officer for iCustomer, a start-up leveraging AI for Marketing growth. He was the VP of Planning and a member of the senior leadership team for LVMH brand Loro Piana in North America. He was part of the team that turned around and grew Loro Piana +72%, the fastest growing brand at LVMH worldwide. Additionally, he is a Founding Team Member and was VP Business Development and Advisory Board Member of Celect, an award-winning retail technology firm that leveraged machine learning to optimize inventory. The firm was founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when he was a graduate student and worked with large, well-known brands/retailers. It raised series A, B, and C funding rounds in Silicon Valley and New York. Nike, Inc. acquired Celect in August 2019.
José has held senior management positions reporting to 6 CEOs and has extensive
international management experience in AI, buying, marketing, merchandising, planning,
predictive analytics and has run retail store networks with P&L responsibility. In addition, he was a mentor at XRC Labs and was the National Retail Federation Student Association Faculty Advisor for the New School. He is a mentor at the New York Fashion Tech Lab. Also, he has been invited to lecture on Retailing and Technology at various industry
conferences and numerous universities including: Columbia University (CBS), Cornell University (Cornell Tech/FSAD), ESSEC Business School, Fashion Institute of Technology (GFM),
Harvard University (HBS), Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (Sloan), New York University (Stern), The University of Chicago (Booth), The
University of Navarra (IESE), Parsons School of Design, The University of Rochester (Simon),
XRC Labs and Fashion Group International (FGI). Â
A native New Yorker, Chan is fluent in Spanish, Italian, French and has studied German and
Chinese. He is an avid swimmer, Opera &; Classical Music aficionado and plays Classical Guitar in his spare time.
